Contents

Shotgun

Faction

Ammo Capacity

Weapon Type

Range

Damage

Carried by Russian Mafia Officers or found in the Russian Supply Drop, shotguns are unparalleled in sheer power when in close-quarters firefights. While its range is limited, it should not be underestimated, and should be carried on missions where close range is the main focus of combat. It is mainly carried by Mafia officers, known as Mafia Capos, who can be found at the Mafia HQ and other areas with high Mafia numbers.

Shotgun

Faction

Ammo Capacity

Weapon Type

Range

Damage

The Shotgun is an uncommon weapon, it is often used by the Pirates and rarely seen in the hands of black caped VZA troops and almost never seen in the hands of PLAV troops. It can be first seen and obtained during the Villa takeover. It can be obtained through the CQB kit sold by the Universal Petroleum Shop and Pirate Supply Drop from the Pirates' Shop.

This weapon is a pump action shotgun, holding seven rounds, it is extremely limited in terms of lethality. Individual pellets deal negligible damage but a full blast of them at very close range can kill any infantry unit. The Shotgun is most effective at extreme close range, it only begins becoming reliable at under ten meters. One of its many drawbacks is its slow rate of fire. Even if skilled use of the shot intervals can be very effective, it seriously loses effectiveness against more numerous and stronger soldiers as the game progresses. It is nothing any other gun or a good swift smack across the face cannot do better. Using a just about any weapon is more advisable because almost everything else has a higher magazine capacity, rate of fire, range, accuracy and damage output.

Using the Shotgun in a vehicle centered strategy is a viable option because it is effective at defending a vehicle from enemies trying to commandeer it while the player is out for whatever reason. The Shotgun is easier to use with Jen because she can move faster (but has less health) or Mattias because he has faster health regeneration (but slower movement).

Otherwise, the Shotgun is an absolutely horrible weapon for infantry combat strategies because it limits the player's effectiveness to close range (if the player pairs the Shotgun with another weapon, there will be almost no need for the Shotgun). Using the Shotgun exclusively obliges the player to close in on the enemy to get within range (~10m) because enemy soldiers typically stay within the best effective range of their weapons and stop advancing from there. While moving in, the player will probably have been exposed to the usual battlefield hazards such as tanks, helicopters, explosions, emplaced weapons, soldiers with better guns. When player is within Shotgun range, the player will often have already lost a sizeable portion of health, this will often mean they will find themselves with no cover, low health and in a bad situation surrounded by enemy soldiers as well as the usual hazards.

To make matters worse, NPC accuracy is significantly better at close range and bullets have less travel time (less opportunity to 'dodge' incoming fire) giving the NPCs a significant advantage at that range. The Shotgun could excel in room clearing, however, Mercenaries 2 has no rooms to clear, as most combat scenarios in the game involve destroying buildings and the surrounding combat is generally not suited for Shotguns. If the player ever needs to quickly dispatch a distant formerly friendly soldier who is reporting their hostile actions, it is advisable to change weapon because using the Shotgun to deal with the problem may be challenging.

Another major flaw with the shotgun is the lack of consistency in the pellet spread, sometimes the shotgun will be able to score a headshot kill at twenty meters and sometimes it will not be able to inflict more than 50% damage to an enemy at five meters. NPC soldiers seem to use the Shotgun very effectively at under 15 meters, if the player gets too close to hostile 'shotgunners', they will find their health being taken away in very large chunks.